Both miss chances to edge ahead going into final round
LA QUINTA, California: Bubba Watson and Alex Prugh were tied for the lead after four rounds of the 90-hole Bob Hope Classic on Sunday, each missing chances to edge ahead going into yesterday’s final round.
DOUBLE-BOGEYED: Watson hits a tee shot on the 16th hole during the fourth round of the Bob Hope Classic at Nicklaus Private Course at PGA West in La Quinta. — AFP photo
Watson double-bogeyed the final hole, hitting his second shot into the water en route to a three-under 69 to fall back into a tie with fellow American Prugh on 23-under par 265.
Prugh, a USPGA Tour rookie, missed a three-footer as he bogeyed his own final hole to post a 70.
Bill Haas and South African Tim Clark were a stroke back, both carding 66 for 266.
Joe Ogilvie was two shots adrift on 267 after a 68 that included a costly double-bogey at his 17th hole.
Watson, Prugh, Haas and Clark have never won on the US Tour, and this event – which features none of the tour’s top 35 players this year – appears to offer a great chance. Haas’ father, Jay, won the Hope in 1988.
Watson was poised to take a lead into the final round, which has been pushed back a day after rain washed out play on Thursday.
Instead, his disappointing finish on the Nicklaus Private course – one of four in use for the first four rounds of the event – opened the door for Prugh.
“Tomorrow is going to be a tough day no matter if I had the lead, was tied for the lead, or one back, or five back,” Watson said. “Tomorrow is going to be a fun day. This is what we live for. The more chances I get to win, maybe I’ll get one to luckily fall in and win one.”
Watson, who had led after the second round, moved back to the top of the leaderboard with six birdies before his disaster at the last.
Prugh, 25 and making his third PGA Tour start, missed an easy putt to cap his round.
“The way things were going the first three days, where the scores were going, I definitely didn’t think two-under would keep me in it,” Prugh said. Ogilvie, whose lone tour victory came in 2007 at Milwaukee, was clearly irked with himself after his double-bogey at 17 at La Quinta.
“My caddie was about 30 yards off,” said Ogilvie, who hadn’t made a bogey since early in the second round. “I had uncertainty on the tee, and it’s a mistake to hit driver when you’re not confident standing there. You can’t have double bogeys and win the Hope.”
The cut claimed several of the tournament’s bigger names, including England’s Justin Rose, Justin Leonard, Rocco Mediate, David Duval, Sweden’s Jesper Parnevik and Chad Campbell. — AFP